pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: sinless


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More and More

Reading: Romans 6:1-5

Romans 6:4b – “Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too can walk in newness of life.”

In today’s reading Paul argues that grace transforms our lives. Yes, it is grace that leads to the forgiveness of sins. Some in the Roman church, however, have argued that more sinning equals more grace, so sin away! In response to this idea, Paul writes, “Absolutely not!” In fact, Paul adds, it should be just the opposite because “All of us died to sin.” When we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we commit to live as he lived. This leads to a death to sinning. But the reality is that this is not a final death. Yes, as we walk with Christ, we mature in our faith. Yet the reality is always this: we sin less as we grow in Christ, but we are never sinless.

The process of dying to sin is an ongoing process. As we mature, we come to realize that this thing we’ve always done, well, it is in fact sin. It never felt like it before, but suddenly we realize that is. And then we must die to that thing, letting go of a part of ourselves. We then walk a little closer to Christ. The good news is that we can do this again and again. Paul emphasizes the ongoing nature of this process in verse 4, where he writes, “Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too can walk in newness of life.” Dying to sin, again and again, we will be raised to new life over and over.

There is a transformation, a healing, that occurs in our soul when we are forgiven and made new. As we are made more and more like Christ, we gradually learn to let go of the guilt and shame of our sin. We learn to trust God’s love and grace more and more. And as we repeat the process, sinning less, growing in Christ, we learn to love and extend grace to others more and more. Doing so, we better reflect Jesus’ light and love to the world, drawing others to the goodness of God. Day by day, may it be more and more so for you and for me.

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for walking with us daily on this long and often slow journey of faith. Thank you for your patience and steadfastness that draws us back to the well of grace again and again. Each time we drink of it, O God, shape us more and more into the image of Christ. Use us day by day, Lord, to be light and love in and to the world. Amen.


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Living as Light

Reading: Ephesians 5:8-11

Ephesians 5:9 – “Light produces fruit that consist of goodness, justice, and truth.”

Paul begins today’s passage by reminding those in the churches in Ephasus and those in the church today that although we were once in darkness, living as people of the world, we are now in “the light of the Lord.” Our old, sinful, selfish ways have been laid aside so that we can now live as “children of the light.” The apostle paints this change as black and white terms: light and darkness. While we strive to live in the light, the reality is that we sometimes stray into the darkness and often times we live in the gray.

The journey of faith and the work of the Spirit draws us to the light end of this spectrum. As we mature in faith, we tend to sin less. Even so, we never remain sinless for long. As Peter says in his first letter, the lion always prowls. Because of this, our faith growth is not strictly linear. While we are imperfect, we also seek to be more and more like Christ. Paul reminds us, in verse 9, of why we strive to live faithfully: “Light produces fruit that consist of goodness, justice, and truth.” When our lives yield these outcomes, we witness to God’s love and care and power, drawing others to the light.

While we seek to keep away from “the unfruitful actions of darkness,” they are all around us. Paul encourages us to allow the light within us to “reveal the truth” about the evil inside ourselves and in the world. Concerning others, we must prayerfully discern when and how and where to speak truth. At times we will be led to “call out” injustice, oppression, and other evils. And at times we will be led to take a more gentle and kind “calling in” of those who have started from the faith. In both ways, we a living faithfully as the light of Christ in the world.

Prayer: Lord God, lead and guide us to walk as children of the light. Open our eyes and hearts to the ways you provide for us to be goodness, justice, and truth first to ourselves and then to the world. As we focus on our own faith, help us to mature and to trust in you more and more. From this solid foundation, guide us in our efforts to reveal truth to the world and to our fellow believers. Guide us to always lead with love and grace. Amen.


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One Problem

Readings: Job 1, Job 2, Job 3, Job 4, Job 5

Job 1:21 – “The LORD has given; the LORD has taken; bless the LORD’s name.”

Photo credit: Marek Pospisil

We begin Job today. Whereas in Esther there was a threat of suffering that prompted action, in Job the suffering comes – in one huge jolt. Both Esther and Job “argue” against the universally held belief of the time: obey God and be blessed, disobey God and be punished.

As Job begins the narrator makes a very important statement for us to hold to as we read this book: Job is honest and full of integrity; he fears God and avoids evil. Job is so righteous, in fact, he makes sacrifices just in case his children have sinned. Because Job is righteous, in ancient thoughts, he should not suffer. But suffer he does! At the hands of the Adversary, Job loses all his livestock, his servants, and all 10 children. This would lead a lesser man to curse God. Not Job. He says, “The LORD has given; the LORD has taken; bless the LORD’s name.” Job too operates, at least for now, under the blessing and punishment paradigm.

To further test Job’s faith the Adversary receives permission to afflict Job’s health. Severe sores cover his whole body. Job’s wife – who has also experienced this rush of loss and who knows herself to be innocent of sin – encourages Job to just curse God and die. Why fight it? But Job responds much the same way: how can one accept good from God but not bad from God as well? Again the paradigm.

Job’s three friends arrive. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar sit with Job for seven days. They too look at Job in his present state and assume that he is a great sinner. Why else would this happen to him? Job speaks first, rueing the day he was born. In the religious thinking of the day, there was no concept yet of an afterlife. The greatest gift of God was life itself. Job wishes that he had never received this gift. This is an indication of Job’s struggle to understand what is happening to him.

Eliphaz responds. He sees Job as a sinner who needs to repent. This drives all that he says. If one “plows sin” then one “sows trouble.” He encourages Job to put his case to God. He reminds Job that God wants to forgive and will bind up and heal. One problem: Job is sinless. What case can he possibly bring before God?

Prayer: Lord God, what wrestling we begin today! Suffering and loss continue to be a part of our lives and our world. Questions continue to abound! As we walk with Job, his friends, with you, help us to gain understanding and insight into who you really are: not the cause but the one who walks with us. Amen.


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Obedience on the Journey

The obedience that Jesus the man demonstrated is amazing.  Jesus made the choice to obey God over and over and over.  The major example we think of is the cross – the place where Jesus paid for all of our sins with His life.  At the end of a life and ministry build upon loving people, Jesus demonstrated the depth of His love by obeying God’s will on the cross.

Sometimes I find it easier to be faithful on the big things.  For example, cheating on my taxes or stealing from the store bear big consequences that I am not willing to risk, so I do what is right instead.  But the little things can catch me so easily.  The unkind thought crosses my mind or the hurtful words slip out so effortlessly.  Often they are followed quickly by remorse or an aplogy, but sometimes there is a delay.  It is a struggle to always be obedient.

Jesus lived a life without sin until that momet when He took our sin upon Himself on the cross. A life without sin.  Just think for a moment about being that obedient to following God’s will.  For Jesus, obedience extended beyond simply not sinning.  It also meant being obedient to going where God called Him to go and to doing what God led Him to do.  What a depth of love for the Father that Jesus had!

The reality for us is that Jesus is our example to follow.  I am far from being without sin and have a long way to go to be fully obedient.  But God does not expect perfection or for me to ever reach perfection.  He only expects my love and my continuing on the journey to grow to be more and more and more like Christ.  Lord God, bless this journey.

Scripture reference: Hebrews 10: 5-10